


AUgust 2020 fills

by rainbow_nerds



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: AU-gust 2020, Alternate Universe, Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:34:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 13,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbow_nerds/pseuds/rainbow_nerds
Summary: A series of AU ficlets <500 words each, all centered around Steve, Bucky and Stucky.Individual summaries on each chapter.Updated daily!
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 219
Kudos: 91
Collections: AUgust 2020





	1. Day 1: Fantasy AU

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to Ladra for looking these over for me and fixing my weird punctuation 💛 any remaining mistakes are 100% mine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is a knight running from a fearsome beast, when he comes across a cottage in the woods, occupied by a handsome witch who nurses him back to health.

Steve stumbles through the underbrush, his armor weighing him down as he tries to outrun the beast chasing him. He had been assured this was supposed to be a routine patrol; the palace mages hadn’t detected any untoward activities in this direction warranting a full team of knights. 

He swears under his breath as the sound of the beast grows louder, and tries to put on an extra burst of speed. He isn't sure where he is running  _ to, _ only that he needs to get somewhere before that thing catches up to him.

Then, suddenly, Steve finds himself in a clearing, the sounds of the beast drifting into silence. He stops short, noticing a new warmth in the air which hadn’t been there before. The air smells vaguely of honeysuckle, and he turns to look in the direction from which he had come. There's a shimmer in the air. The clearing must be warded by whoever lives here. 

There's a cottage just ahead, and he approaches warily, hand on his sword. Already, there is someone emerging from the green wooden door.

The sight of the man stops Steve short. He has beautiful flowing hair, and he is dressed in soft, flowing garments. The man approaches him, and Steve doesn't feel the need to resist as he is helped inside. Steve is breathing heavily and his heart is racing after the chase, but the cottage feels warm and comfortable.

Steve can't tear his eyes away from the man as he gathers herbs and bandages from around the room and uses them to patch Steve up. Steve hadn't even realised he had been injured.

The man introduces himself as Bucky, and when his eyes glow the soft green of the dappled sunlight in the woods, Steve knows instinctively he will be returning to this clearing as often as he is allowed.


	2. Day 2: College AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions  
> Send us your confessions from around campus and we will tweet them anonymously!

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

Send us your confessions from around campus and we will tweet them anonymously!

_ Day 1: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

There's a cute guy with long brown hair who sits by the window of the library on the third floor. He's very distracting.

_ Day 2: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

I have long brown hair and I sit by the window in the library on the third floor. Sorry, I'll try to be less distracting next time

_ Day 3: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

Hey cute guy by the window, that crop top is the opposite of "less distracting" but I honestly cannot complain because wow

_ Day 4: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

New confession: I'm the guy by the window and I'm being deliberately "distracting" to try and figure out who has been confessing about me

_ Day 5: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

Dear CGBTW: you'll never figure it out! I am incredibly stealthy

_ Day 6: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

That acronym is confusing, why don't you just come ask me my name? Also, pretty sure you're the blonde guy who just watched me take off my sweatshirt and choked on your drink. 

I'm free tonight, btw

_ Day 7: _

**Shield College Confessions** @SHIELDConfessions

Note from the mods: we are friends with "cute guy by the window" and the original confession poster. We made this twitter because they wouldn’t let us set them up. Thanks for following and sending in your own confessions, but this account has now served its purpose.


	3. Day 3: Soulmate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything your soulmate writes on their body also shows up on yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a lot of time picking fonts for their handwriting, which you can see on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Rainbow_Nerds_/status/1290334078340923397?s=20)

The writing first shows up on Steve’s fifteenth birthday. It’s a short list in a messy scrawl, nothing too extraordinary.

> "-HOTDOGS
> 
> -PICK UP BECCA"

Steve stares at it for a solid ten minutes, though, because he knows what this means.

He has a soulmate. 

He’s sitting at the breakfast table and his mom is sitting opposite him, so when his hand starts to itch and his eyes widen in shock, she knows exactly what it means, and comes over to wrap him in a hug.

Steve’s a late bloomer in a lot of ways, and this is just one in a long line of late developments. He’s still staring at the writing when Sarah hands him a pen which she had scavenged from her purse. 

He grabs it and runs to his bedroom to write a response in his own careful lettering.

> _"Who’s Becca?"_

> "!!!!!! 
> 
> BECCA'S MY SISTER
> 
> AND YOU'RE MY SOULMATE???"

From there, they write to each other every day, short messages back and forth on their hands, longer letters scrawled on legs and arms, secrets scribbled on the soles of their feet.

They don’t meet officially for a long time. It’s taboo to seek out your soulmate. You should meet naturally, so they say.  
  


When Steve is twenty, he wonders if they will ever cross paths. He walks into a coffee shop and notices there’s a new barista. He places his order, and when the barista scrawls his name on the cup, it’s in a familiar chicken scratch. 

While he waits for his coffee, he reaches into his bag and pulls out the pen he always carries with him. He writes on the inside of his wrist, which he knows always makes Bucky ticklish.

> _"You have really pretty eyes."_

The barista looks at his wrist, then drops Steve’s coffee, letting it spill all over the counter. He looks up and smiles, and Steve feels himself melt. 


	4. Day 4: Angels & Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long time ago, Steve watched Bucky fall. He never thought he would see him again.

Steve stares at the creature in front of him and it feels like he's being ripped apart from within. All dark edges and twisted features, but Steve would know the essence of him anywhere.

It's been millennia since the last time they were together. They had fought on the same side, once. They had been each other's right hand while serving in their father's army, and though Steve had harboured doubts about the cause, he kept pushing forward. And Bucky had followed him.

Even now, all this time later, Steve wishes he could go back. Every time he closes his eyes the scene plays in his head, and it's as though it's happening all over again, in slow motion.

Bucky fighting by his side. Bucky getting hit, going down, his wings ripped from his body. Bucky falling. Steve wants to jump after him but the battle rages on around him, and he can't reach.

Steve stares at the creature in front of him, and he feels the wound open again.

That face, those eyes. He looks exactly the same, but the spark of fire and righteousness behind his eyes is gone. 

A ragged wound where his wings had once been; still open, bleeding black ichor rather than the gold Steve remembered from their days as foot soldiers, when they would return from the front lines bearing scratches and cuts from the enemy. 

Though sometimes, Steve still wonders whether the  _ enemy _ really are the ones he should be fighting. He has spent time observing the humans, and they seem to him to be worth protecting.

His eyes meet those of the creature before him. Darker than before, sure, but oh so welcoming. 

Steve can't help the name from spilling from his lips.

"Bucky?"

He's met with a blank stare.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" 

Steve feels tears fill his eyes at the words. He blinks them away, and when he opens them, he's alone again.

Bucky is gone.

But this time, Steve intends to follow him, even if it means falling himself.


	5. Day 5: Post-Apocalypse AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky has settled on a farm after the world fell down around him. He doesn't remember much from Before, but a pair of familiar blue eyes might just spark a memory

Bucky wakes up just as the sun begins to peek through his windows, and he heaves a sigh. He pulls himself out of the bed, soft but worn blanket left bunched up on the thin mattress.

He pads across the bare wooden floor and heads outside. He picks some berries and eats them while watching the sun rise.

When the last of the morning shadows have disappeared, he goes back inside to dress, and then goes to work.

This has been his routine for the last several months, since he managed to escape from the destruction and chaos and found himself in the middle of nowhere.

He can't remember much beyond the smoke and rubble, but the farm soothes his weary mind, and he has found peace in the repetitive work.

He's working the western field today, which he has discovered holds a variety of vegetables; carrots and onions and potatoes which he is looking forward to harvesting and cooking with. A faint noise comes from beyond the farm's boundaries, and Bucky turns to look out with a furrowed brow.

It's a low rumbling, and it reminds Bucky of the acrid stench of chaos -- of screams and running and blood.

He fights down the panic, bracing himself for whatever is coming. A flash of sun-bleached red, a jeep turning into the farm, rumbling along the path.

Bucky grabs his shovel, holding it defensively out as the door of the jeep opens and someone steps out. A blond head, broad shoulders. The man turns, and his eyes stop Bucky in his tracks.

His blue eyes, so familiar they sent a jolt of pain through Bucky's chest. He can't place them, can't place this man in the messy jumble of memories he has left, but he knows that he belongs there.

The man approaches him.

"Bucky?" Bucky feels his eyes well with tears. It's the first time he has heard his name spoken aloud. He throws himself forward, dropping the shovel and letting himself be wrapped up in those strong, capable arms.

"Steve. It's really you?" The name fights its way out of his broken memories, and he wonders how he could have ever forgotten.


	6. Day 6: Hospital AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky just wants a cup of coffee, but then the Avengers show up and land him in the hospital with a head injury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone really believe I would get through this challenge without including Shrunkyclunks at some point?

Bucky is not pouting. 

He is justifiably irritated, at most.

He had been minding his own sweet business, about to go in for a pastry and mocha from his favourite coffee place after a shitty day at work, when some sort of fucking robot swarm had started filling the street, and he was being swept up into the fray, almost bashed in the head by one of them when one of the Avengers had knocked it away from a child and directly at him.

He isn’t mad that the kid was alright, of course, but when he had ducked, the bot had crashed through the window of the coffee shop and he’s pretty sure they won’t be open for weeks now.

Then, when he had been busy mourning his mocha, another robot had sneaked up on him from behind, bashing him in the head and knocking him out.

So now here he is, sitting in a hospital bed while awaiting the results of extensive testing which would almost certainly  _ not _ be covered by his shitty insurance.

He lets out a huff and ignores the throb from the growing lump on the back of his head. 

There’s a knock on the door to his room -- and he does  _ not _ want to know why they have him in a private room, and how they think he is going to pay for said private room. This bill is definitely going directly to Tony Stark, he decides.

“Come in,” he says, assuming it’s another nurse. His family would just barge in, he knows, and nobody else he knows lives close enough to have made it by now.

The door opens, and someone steps in. It takes Bucky a minute to recognize the large build, blonde hair and blue eyes. He smells coffee.

“Fuck, call the nurse, I’m definitely concussed,” he mumbles, reaching for the call button. Captain America looks concerned, and steps forward to help him.

“Are you alright? I can go get someone…?” He trails off and Bucky looks up at him, sees the two coffee cups he’s holding.

“You’re real,” Bucky says, idiotically.

“I am.” Captain America holds a coffee cup out to Bucky and introduces himself as Steve.

“Sorry for hitting that robot at you. And for not stopping the second robot.” Bucky nods and accepts the coffee.

“It’s a start,” he says, and Captain America -- Steve, he corrects himself --  _ blushes. _

He definitely isn’t pouting now.


	7. Day 7: Modern AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hometown tinder is not a fun place to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for today was "Childhood friends" but since that's not an AU for this pairing, I used the Joker for Modern AU!

Bucky hadn’t wanted to come home for the summer. He enjoyed living in the city, and he had rapidly lost touch with all the guys he used to hang out with once he left for college. Turns out, they hadn’t actually had anything in common outside of spending six hours a day in the same building, and that wasn’t enough to maintain a friendship across state lines.

He was in grad school now, and more than happy with his new friends, and he really didn’t miss having to pretend to laugh at their dumb comments about teachers and people they knew.

Unfortunately, the summer job he had lined up fell through, and he had had to cave in and go back to stay with his parents and little sister until the next semester started. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, swiping idly on his phone, when Becca came in and stood behind him. He tried to hide the screen but it was too late.

“Is that  _ tinder?” _ she sounded gleeful, and Bucky groaned. She was fifteen and far too invested in his love life.

“Yes, not that it’s any of your business. I’m not planning on matching with anyone; just curious.”

“Anyone good?” Bucky groaned, because of course she wanted to discuss this. He was just bored, and liked reading what people put up there. He wasn’t going to actually swipe right on any of them.

“Well,” he replied, “so far there are six guys holding fish, five whose only picture is of a car or motorbike, three that I know for a fact are lying about their age because I remember what grade they were in compared to me, and this dude who has ‘When I think about you, I touch myself’ as his bio.”

She grimaced, and Bucky swiped left. 

Hm.

The next guy was cute. Pictured with a large golden retriever, good job, his music taste was pretty much exactly like Bucky’s.

_ Steve, 25. Art teacher in NYC _

Not much of a bio, but Bucky was more caught by the pictures, because he  _ knew _ Steve. He had changed a lot since the skinny kid Bucky used to drool over in high school, but it was him. And he was living in NYC too, home for an indeterminate amount of time.

Interested in men.

“Bucky, you still there?” 

Bucky ignored his sister, and swiped right.

_ It’s a match! _


	8. Day 8: Superhero AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is a masked vigilante who can fly, with a crush on his telekinetic partner. (And they were roommates)

Steve hears a soft clatter from Bucky's bedroom and freezes on the spot. It had been a close one tonight -- had the Soldier not levitated a large dumpster in front of him, he probably wouldn't have made it home. 

Steve has bruises and cuts all over his torso, and he doesn't know how he could explain them away if Bucky were to see him like this. Not to mention the fact that he smells very strongly of trash.

He carefully gathers his gear and shoves it into the bag he keeps in the back of his closet.

Steve has considered letting Bucky in on his secret, but he wants to prolong it as long as possible in order to keep Bucky protected from the danger. Bucky is everything Steve could have wanted in a roommate: quiet, easygoing, doesn't mind Steve keeping odd hours.

Plus, he's gorgeous. Honestly, if Steve hadn't been harbouring a ridiculous crush on the masked soldier he teams up with at night (despite never having actually seen his face), Steve would probably find living with Bucky a lot more painful than it currently is.

Steve doesn't hear anything else from Bucky's room, so he braces himself, hovers just a few inches above the floor to avoid the squeaky floorboards, and sneaks out of his room towards the bathroom to clean up.

Or at least that's the plan, but no sooner does he open the door than he sees Bucky emerging from his own room. They both freeze.

Bucky glances down at Steve's feet, and his eyes widen. He's holding a laundry hamper. 

Wait. Not  _ holding _ . The hamper is  _ levitating  _ in front of him.

Steve drops to the floor at the same time as the hamper. They blink in surprise, and then both speak at the same time.

"Captain?"

"Soldier?"

They stop. Take a step forward. Steve catches a whiff of garbage from the laundry hamper and remembers how the dumpster had upended and dropped its contents over the both of them.

He sees Bucky sniff.

He grins.

"Well that answers the question of how to tell you I'm a superhero with a crush on my sidekick, I guess," Steve says, startling a laugh out of Bucky.

"First of all, pal. You are  _ my _ sidekick. We've talked about this." And they have, late nights on rooftops Steve flew them up to, quiet nights when they just sat under the stars and talked, voices muffled by masks. Steve sees the moment the entirety of his statement filters through Bucky's mind.

"Wait -- a crush?" Steve smiles sheepishly, and Bucky surges forward, pulling him into a kiss. Steve follows easily, melting into it. It's everything he ever imagined and more, except for -- he pulls away and grimaces.

"I really want to kiss you, trust me. But -- let's maybe wait until we don't both stink of garbage?"


	9. Day 9: Royalty AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finda out his boyfriend is actually a prince. It doesn't go well. (The Prince & Me fusion)

Steve was just a normal twenty-two-year-old college student, with an unbelievably hot and mildly pretentious boyfriend. Bucky was kind, and thoughtful, and sexy, and Steve was pretty sure he was well on his way to falling in love with Bucky, despite the fact that he didn’t seem to have the faintest clue of how to be an adult. Steve had had to teach him how to fold his pants, for god’s sake.

The point being, Bucky was basically everything Steve could have asked for in a boyfriend. Which is why Steve was incredibly surprised when, just as he had gotten Bucky down on his knees in front of him in a mostly abandoned corner on the top floor of the library, they were accosted by photographers shouting after someone called  _ Prince James. _

“Prince  _ James? _ ” Steve asked, incredulous. Bucky kept pushing him onwards, out of the library, towards the dorms, and into Bucky’s room. Steve had to stop and take several puffs from his inhaler before he rounded on Bucky again.

“Well? Who is Prince James?” Bucky looked devastated as he scrambled to explain.

“I am. My little sister always calls me Bucky, and I wanted to just be  _ me _ for a while, when I came here.” Bucky took a step towards Steve, but he backed away quickly.

“You lied to me,” Steve bit out, angry. “Was anything you ever said true?” Bucky looked heartbroken and close to tears.

“Yes, Stevie, please. The only thing I hid was the title, everything else was genuine.” 

Steve wanted to believe him. He really did, but--

“I loved you,” was all he could say, before the tears overcame him, and he pushed past Bucky, out the door and away to his own dorm room. That was the first time either of them had said those words.

Steve cried for hours, and accepted the ice cream Sam brought him gratefully. 

He thought about Bucky. He googled  _ Prince James. _ That familiar smile, those curls he had run his fingers through so many times, dressed in finery like nothing Steve had ever seen. He cried some more, and then he pulled himself together.

He unlocked his phone, scrolled through the missed calls and texts from Bucky, and made a decision. He couldn’t just give up on them. He had to give it a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very tempted to write a full fic based on this movie, not gonna lie.


	10. Day 10: Pirate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky approaches Captain Rogers' ship as a last, desperate hope, and gets much more than he could have ever hoped for

Bucky takes a deep, steadying breath as he approaches the gangplank. The ship looms in front of him, along with the reputation of her Captain.

Captain Rogers is known throughout the seas as a fearsome pirate who shows no mercy to his enemies. He is well respected, and though Bucky hasn't met him yet, he knows the man isn't one to be trifled with. 

Bucky hopes the other part of his reputation is accurate though -- the part which is whispered around the docks, through the alleyways where the most vulnerable populations spend their days and nights.

It gets swept under the rug in favour of tales of violence, pillaging and theft, but it's known that, if you have nowhere else to go, if you’re down to your last hope, Captain Rogers will welcome you on board his ship. Welcome you with hard work and long days, but as long as you are loyal, you will gain a crew and a family for life.

Bucky has heard the rumours, he just hopes they're true.

He boards the ship, clutching his ratty bag to his chest, and is stopped immediately by a large man with braided hair and a patch over one eye. Bucky gulps as the man glowers at him.

"Who are you and why are you here?" he snaps, and Bucky stutters a response.

"Captain!" The man seems to ignore him, and steps aside to be replaced by the most intimidating figure Bucky has ever seen.

The captain is tall and broad chested, with thick arms -- bare and covered in criss-crossed scars. He has a thick beard and his hair is swept back from his face. Bucky gulps in fear, wishing he hadn't stepped on board the ship, until he sees the captain's eyes, and he laughs.

"Stevie?!" he exclaims, and the captain's jaw drops.

"Bucky?" he asks, and Bucky throws himself into his arms. 

The rest of the crew stand around, dumbstruck, watching their captain hold this scraggly looking stowaway close to his chest and blink away tears as he presses a kiss to the top of his head.


	11. Day 11: Farm/Ranch AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finds a strange man on his farm with no memories of who he was before. Gradually, he starts to open up.

Steve stops by the barn before he turns in, ostensibly to check in on the horses, but it’s not hay he’s looking for in the loft when he climbs the ladder. The man had shown up a couple of weeks ago: no name, claiming no memories. Steve hadn’t been sure about the honesty of the claim, but he had been meaning to hire a hand for the upcoming harvest, and the guy had looked like he just wanted to lay low for a while.

He had offered up his spare room when the guy said he had no place to stay, but it had been declined. 

“I’ll stay out here. If that’s okay. I can’t, enclosed spaces aren’t…” Steve had taken pity on him and nodded. The guy had accepted the offered blankets and pillows, and it makes Steve smile every time he sees the little nest up in the hayloft.

“Bucky,” the man had mumbled to him one day, when they had been working. Steve had looked at him curiously, and he had elaborated in his staccato manner of speaking. “My name. I think. I’m Bucky.” 

He seems to be more and more sure of himself every time Steve sees him.

Sure enough, he’s up in the hayloft now, curled up and staring blankly at the roof.

“I was thinking, tomorrow we could make a start on the south field,” Steve says when he catches his eye. Bucky shrugs, sits up.

“Yeah, okay. Looks like it could be ready.” Steve nods, wondering why he had come in here. Bucky offers him a tight smile, which vanishes after only a fleeting moment.

“Right. I should-” Steve gestures behind him in the direction of his farmhouse and moves to climb back down the ladder, but there’s a wet patch on the rung and he slips. He falls and lands hard on his back. He doesn’t feel injured, but he’s definitely winded.

Bucky scampers down after him, helps him to his feet, fusses over him as he leads him back to the house. He comes inside with Steve, hovers over him.

“Thanks, Bucky. I think I’m gonna be fine. Just need to lie down for a little bit,” Steve says.

“I think… Maybe I should stay here. Make sure you are okay,” Bucky offers, and Steve grins.

“Of course, Buck. Make yourself at home.”


	12. Day 12: Crime AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky are a pair of highly skilled burglars.

"You good, sweetheart?" Steve looks over and smirks at the question. Bucky gives him a once-over, eyes flickering along his small, lithe frame. 

"Please," Steve scoffs, adjusting the harness on his shoulders. 

They have been casing this place for weeks. They know the layout of the building, the guard rotation, and the security measures inside and out. Their plan is airtight, and it's not their first rodeo.

"I've got this."

Bucky nods, clips the cord to the back of the harness. His hands linger on Steve's body, and he feels the warmth of Bucky's breath on the small patch of exposed skin at the back of his neck. Steve turns, looks up.

"I wouldn't say no to a kiss for good luck though, just to be sure." 

Bucky huffs out a laugh but his eyes drop to Steve's lips and he pulls him in close, fingers curling around the straps of the harness.

"Well, if you insist," Bucky teases, and presses a kiss into his mouth. 

Steve reaches up to wrap his arms around Bucky’s broad shoulders, sighing into the kiss. It's quick and hot, the risk of being caught adding a level of danger to it which Steve has long since discovered makes it all the more intoxicating.

He pulls away, breathing heavily, and steps back to the edge of the open skylight. Bucky turns to the controls, all business as he checks everything is in order.

"Remember, this is time sensitive; in and out. There’s a minute-long window between patrols. Three tugs on the rope for extraction." Steve nods briskly, pulls the mask down over his face and dives back through the skylight, trusting Bucky to catch the rope in time. 

Sure enough, before he hits the ground, the rope goes taut and Steve balances himself, checks his surroundings, and gets to work.

They’ve done this a dozen times already, and they are a perfectly matched team.

They’ve got this.


	13. Day 13: Rock Band AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky stood in the audience at Steve's show, remembering how it used to be when they were together, but Steve has a surprise in store.

Bucky stood in the crowd, letting the familiar voice flow through him from the stage. He couldn’t see the hands playing the guitar from his spot in the back of the stadium but he knew they had strong, calloused fingers, a tattoo of a date on the inner wrist, an even smaller scar between the second and third knuckle on the right index finger. 

It occurred to him there were probably new callouses now, extra tattoos and maybe even unfamiliar scars. It had been a long time since those hands had last caressed his cheeks and held him close.

He hadn’t been sure what to think when the concert ticket had arrived in his mailbox the week before. He hadn’t seen Steve since that day three years ago, when Steve had gotten on a plane and left after a painful conversation about their diverging paths.

Bucky was a middle school teacher, settled in a quiet apartment with houseplants and his cat. He liked quiet nights in, soft blankets, and cheesy rom-coms. Steve was nothing short of a rock star. They made no sense together, but they had made it work until they couldn’t anymore. Bucky didn’t begrudge Steve his success, just as he knew Steve didn’t judge his own choices, but he wished they could have worked it out.

The song ended, and Bucky blinked out of the thoughts and regrets which had begun to swirl in his head. Steve’s band stepped out of the lights, heading backstage, and Steve walked up to the mic.

“Hi!” His voice was slightly deeper than Bucky remembered it, rough around the edges as the concert drew to a close. “Thanks everyone for coming out tonight, you’ve been an awesome crowd!” A cheer rose from the hundreds of people standing around Bucky as Steve continued.

“Wow! Well, I thought I’d play something a little different before we wrap up, so please be kind,” he said, and Bucky sensed some nerves in his voice as he swapped out his signature electric guitar for an acoustic and sat on a stool which had been pulled out by a crew member while he talked.

“This is for someone in particular. I hope the message is clear.” Steve cleared his throat and started to strum. Bucky’s heart clenched when Steve began to sing, and he felt his eyes fill with tears.

Because this was them, their life together since they had met all those years ago to the moment they parted. Bucky felt his own regret, his own longing echoed in the lyrics as Steve sang bitterly about  _ The End of the Line _ . 

As the chorus drew to a close, Bucky stood and began pushing his way to the stage. Steve was singing with his eyes closed, and his cheeks were wet. As Bucky reached the front, Steve opened them, and he gasped when he spotted Bucky before singing the final lines.

_ The train dropped us off too soon, this time _

_ But maybe we could make it to the end of the line. _

Bucky smiled through his tears. Maybe they could.


	14. Day 14: Vampire AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve woke up to a strange sound outside his door, and comes face to face with a figure from his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this a while back and had no idea where to go with it, so I hope you enjoy!

Was it a knock that had woken him? Steve lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. The only light in the room came from a crack in the curtains. A sliver of orange artificial light danced above him as he waited, straining his ears to try and find the noise which had jerked him out of his pleasant dreams. It was silent. 

He turned over and tried to go back to sleep, but just as he was drifting off once more, he heard it again. It wasn’t a knock -- more of a tapping, scratching noise coming from the front door. He got out of bed. It had to be a stray dog or something. There was no other explanation. He went to the door to find the dog and check it was alright. 

He looked out the peephole, but what he saw was not a dog at all. It was a man, with dark hair obscuring his face. He blended in with the night surrounding him.

He seemed to know Steve was there, though he hadn’t made a sound. His gaze shifted from where he was tapping at the door, right to the little peephole where Steve looked out from. Steve gasped and backed away quickly. There was a soft chuckle on the other side of the door.

It was him.

Oh god, it was  _ him _ . 

Bucky.

There was no way he would ever forget those eyes, sharp and captivating, but something had changed within them since he last saw them. They still had that unearthly deep blue colour, so deep he could see his own reflection as though he were looking into the ocean. 

But they were different, somehow. Colder. They glowed as though they were looking into a bright light, despite the darkness which surrounded them.

Steve closed his eyes, trying to rid himself of the memories burned into his retinas, but the harder he tried, the more vivid they became.

“I take it that you remember me then? I’ll be honest, I had feared you wouldn’t.”

The voice coming from the other side of the door sent a shiver down his spine. It was rich and dark, dripping with temptation. This was not the voice of the shy, sensitive writer he had known, but there was something about him that was so completely familiar. How could it be him, and not him, all at once?

“It isn’t you. It can’t be.” He could hardly manage a whisper, but the man -- who both was Bucky, and wasn’t -- heard him as easily as if he had shouted it.

“I know I’m a bit... different...” he said, voice dripping with something that sounded vaguely sinister. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not still me. Invite me in, please, so we can talk.” 

  
  



	15. Day 15: Role Reversal AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve managed to save Bucky from the train, but in doing so he caused himself to fall instead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been super busy with moving today, so I wasn't able to get this snip to my beta, so please forgive any dumb grammar mistakes!

Steve stretched himself to his limit, reaching out of the gaping hole in the side of the train. Just another couple of inches, and he could reach Bucky where he clung to the outside of the train. He had to save him, Steve didn’t know what he would do without him. He gritted his teeth, adjusted his footing and reached out.

Their fingers brushed. 

Bucky grabbed his hand, and Steve let out a heavy breath as Bucky gained a foothold on the torn metal hanging off the side of the train and managed to pull himself back into the carriage.

And then, the bar Steve had placed his foot on to reach Bucky snapped.

He saw Bucky reaching out the side of the train as he fell, a mirror of how he himself had been just moments before. But it was too late, he couldn’t be reached. 

Even though Bucky's face was twisted with shock and grief, Steve smiled. If his last act was saving Bucky, he knew he wouldn’t have died in vain.

***

Bucky wanted to scream. Wanted to scream and punch and rip to shreds every single one of the evil bastards who had caused Steve to fall to his death from the train.

He picked up Steve's shield, clenched his jaw, and set to work destroying Schmidt and everything he could find of Hydra.

It wasn't until after the fight on the plane, after he had angled it into the ocean and knew he had done all he could that he allowed himself to truly grieve.

He'd get to be with his Stevie again.


	16. Day 16: Coffee Shop AU (Joker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve walks back into work after a bout of the flu, and meets his new co-worker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to post this yesterday. Oops.  
> Used the Coffee shop AU for today because the original prompt was "treasure hunter AU" and I didn't really know what to make of that honestly.

Steve has been warned about the new guy. He's been out for a week and a half with a particularly bad bout of the flu which he had ignored for several days, thinking it was just a particularly long-lasting hangover after their work night out two weeks before, so he's the last to have a shift with him.

Sam had warned that he was moody, disagreeable and aloof in the staff area, but at least he knows his stuff.

Natasha had said he was hiding something, but that he seemed like a good guy.

Clint had found it necessary to warn Steve that he was allegedly "a solid twelve out of ten," and that he had "never seen an apron look so good on a man, Steve, it's ridiculous."

Needless to say, when Steve goes in to work on his first shift with James he's intrigued to see what he's actually like. He doesn't know what to expect from the guy, but he puts on a confident air and walks into the cafe, ready to introduce himself.

He isn't prepared for the sight of the new guy bent over in front of the coffee machine, because honestly, Clint was underselling him. If that back and those thighs are anything to go by, this guy might even rival the guy Steve had managed to pick up at the bar on that night out before he had gotten sick.

Then he stands and turns around, and Steve has to grip the countertop to steady himself.

"Bucky?" The new guy -- Bucky's -- eyes widen, and then he breaks into a grin.

"Well, fancy seeing you here. I thought I'd never hear from you again after you ducked out on me the other night."

Steve cringes.

"I was sick," he defends himself, "I really did plan to call." He punctuates his words by blatantly dragging his eyes over Bucky's body, remembering how it had felt wrapped around his own. Bucky just shrugs with a smirk. 

"So I heard." Steve gets started with the pre-opening routine, unstacking chairs and checking the bakery delivery.

"You know they made me read the employee handbook pretty closely when I started here," Bucky continues, "there was nothing in it against relationships between employees." Bucky sounds casual, but when Steve looks up his eyes are full of intent.

"Is that so?" he asks, and Bucky smirks and glances at the schedule pinned up on the wall.

"We're both off early on Friday. Come out for dinner with me, and maybe we can get breakfast Saturday too?" Steve looks up at him through his eyelashes and bites his lip through the growing smile there.

"I'd like that." He turns the sign on the door to open, and takes his spot next to Bucky behind the counter. 

The new guy is pretty good, in his opinion.


	17. Day 17: Firefighter AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve agreed to shoot the pictures for Sam's station's "sexy firefighter calendar" purely as a favour, _not_ to ogle his hot co-workers.

Steve checked his equipment one final time before squaring his shoulders and marching into the station. It was bustling with activity, but Sam caught sight of him and rushed over. 

“You made it!” Sam swung an arm over Steve’s shoulder and led him into a room which seemed to be little more than a locker room with bed sheets hung up against the wall.

“I’m a professional, Sam, of course I made it.” Steve made a face, looking around at the high windows and fluorescent lighting. He sighed. 

“This is terrible. I’m gonna need you to get the lamps from my car.” Sam nodded, jogging backwards out of the room and throwing finger guns to Steve. 

Steve sighed and got started unpacking the camera equipment he had brought in with him, mapping the angles in the room, and starting to set up in the easiest to light area.

He heard footsteps behind him and the sound of something heavy being put down just as he was reaching around one of the sheets to find a working socket. He held onto the sheet for balance as he reached behind it, before finding out the hard way that the sheet was not in fact secured to anything. 

It slipped from where it was draped over a beam and he stumbled, the sheet falling on top of him. He heard a snort from the doorway.

“Hey asshole, I’m doing this at a discount, as a  _ favour _ to you, and not just to ogle your hot firefighter friends for a day. Could you please help me up?” he grumbled, trying to fight his way out of the sheets, until the sheet was pulled off of him, and he looked up grumpily at--

“You’re not Sam.” The man had laughter in his eyes, and he shook his head.

“Nah, Sam had to go run his checks, and asked me to grab the lamps. Apparently I’m your first appointment?” Steve swallowed thickly and nodded.

“Right! Sure, just let me get this fixed up and we can get going.” 

“I’m Bucky, by the way.” Steve smiled tightly and got his lighting in place. He turned to tell Bucky he was ready, and almost swallowed his tongue. He had stripped down to just his uniform pants, top button undone with suspenders over his broad shoulders. He was covered in tattoos, and it took every ounce of Steve’s willpower to tear his eyes up to his face.

“Right! Uh.. Yeah, so if you could just...” He gestured to the makeshift backdrop, and Bucky smirked.

“So much for not ogling Sam’s firefighter friends.” Steve turned beetroot, rushing to apologise, but Bucky laughed. “I didn’t say I had a problem with that.” He raised an eyebrow, biting on his lower lip slightly, and Steve started snapping pictures.


	18. Day 18: Bodyguard AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The media are very interested in who Bucky Barnes' new bodyguard is.

Bucky scrolls through the article, rolling his eyes.

“They’re wondering why I got a new bodyguard, apparently,” he comments with a snort. “Honestly, you’d swear there was nothing more interesting going on in the world.” He kicks his feet up on the table and rolls his eyes. Steve nudges his feet with a stern expression and he pouts.

“Hey! Bodyguards don’t get to tell me where to rest my feet, that’s not in the job description!” Steve raises an eyebrow, and Bucky puts his feet on the floor. He sticks out his tongue just to show he isn’t being completely obedient.

“Can I see the article?” Steve asks, and he hands over the tablet. The pictures aren’t even that interesting, just the two of them walking down the street holding coffees, Steve about a half-step behind Bucky. 

Steve puts the tablet down on the coffee table.

“You know, I never saw myself becoming a bodyguard. How am I doing so far?” He nudges Bucky in the side, catching him right in his ticklish spot and making him jerk away.

“Absolutely terrible. Worst bodyguard ever, you’re fired.” Steve just smirks and leans over him.

“Fine. I prefer ‘ _ boyfriend’ _ anyway.” Bucky rolls his eyes, but loops his arms around Steve’s neck and pulls him into a kiss.

“I’ll clear this up later, I promise,” he mumbles between kisses, and Steve shrugs.

“I dunno, maybe we could have some fun with it first?” Bucky raises an eyebrow, and there’s a familiar glint in Steve’s eye that spells trouble. 

“What did you have in mind?”


	19. Day 19: 19th Century AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve made it to New York, the land of opportunity, after months on end of cruelty and starvation on a voyage he barely survived.

Steve woke up with a start, looking around him in panic.

He didn’t remember much of his time on the boat. He had spent most of the time in a haze of fever, unable to keep down the meagre food rations provided to him by the low fare he had managed to scrounge up. If it hadn’t been for the care and prayers of the kindly older lady who had taken him under her wing, treating him like a son and nursing him through the worst of his fever dreams, he would no doubt have joined the dozens of his cabin-mates who had been lost along the way.

But he wasn’t on the boat anymore. He had vague memories of disembarking, being put through a series of perfunctory medical checks and handed a piece of paper with a name which wasn’t his, before being thrown out to fend for himself.

He had stumbled along the dock once he was allowed out of the crowded, dusty room, and taken a deep breath of air -- which, while it wasn’t fresh by any stretch of the imagination, at least had a different quality to the sickly sweet, cloying air which he had been forced to breathe for the past three months on board. 

He didn’t remember much beyond that, and now he was laying on a soft bed, with a fire crackling in a nearby hearth. The smoke smelled different to what he was used to -- coal rather than peat -- and he felt tears well up in his eyes. His home was gone, along with everyone he had known. His mother had succumbed to hunger, refusing any nutrition for herself in order to ensure Steve had enough flesh on his bones to survive the journey.

It had been her sacrifice more than anything else which had kept him alive, alongside the efforts of Bríd.

A figure walked into the room, but it wasn’t anyone he recognised. Maybe Bríd’s nephew, who she said she’d be staying with when she arrived? 

“Cé thú?” Steve asked, and his voice was croaky from the months of starvation and disuse. The man furrowed his brows.

“You’re awake! Ma, He’s awake!” The man called out, rushing over with a glass of water which Steve gulped down. Right, English. His English had never been great, but his mother had made sure he knew the basics, just in case.

“Who... who are you?” He tried again, and was relieved the man seemed to understand.

“I’m Bucky. You’re Steven, right?” It was close enough, and he was too weak to correct him, so he nodded.

“I was workin’ down the docks, an’ ya just up an’ collapsed outta nowhere. Gave me a hell of a shock, I tell ya, Ma was fit to drop when I brought you home, but I couldn’t’a jus’ left ya there, right? How’re ya feelin’?” Steve understood about half of what he was saying, but Bucky didn’t seem to mind his slowness in responding.

“I don’t have -- I don’t know.” 

“That’s alright, Stevie. I gotcha now, you can stay with us as long as ya like, alright buddy?” Steve nodded, and felt his eyes drift close. He’d stay long enough to recover, maybe improve his English, then he’d go out and get a job, make his mother proud. 

At least he’d made it this far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always ready to write Irish Steve, and this felt like a perfect opportunity. I didn't do a huge amount of historical research for this, beyond what I learned in school and from books I read as a kid/teen set during the Famine.   
> This is set in around 1847, the height of the Irish potato famine(/genocide). I made myself sad while writing this, and it was almost a whole lot darker but I didn't want to wind up with something too long!


	20. Day 20: Single parents AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky's daughter introduces him to her new friend, whose dad happens to be incredibly attractive.

“Daddy!” Nadia runs out the school gates and grabs Bucky by the hand, dragging him over to another child with their dad. Bucky follows, long since used to his daughter’s antics. “Daddy this is Sarah and she’s new and super cool and I want to go over to her house to play today, can I please?”

Bucky looks down at Nadia, then at the child next to her, bright blonde pigtails and blue eyes in a pleading expression which is almost identical to Nadia’s. Bucky looks up to the man who must be Sarah’s dad, and is momentarily distracted, because he’s probably the most attractive guy he’s ever seen.

“I’m Steve,” the man says, holding out his hand, which Bucky shakes. He tries to speak but his tongue seems to have forgotten how to work. “I’d be happy to have Nadia over, but obviously if you had other plans today we can work out a date that works.” Bucky nods.

“Yeah, uh.. A date. Cool. I mean, a playdate. For the girls. Yes, sure!” Steve’s eyebrows furrow adorably, and Bucky feels himself blush.

“Is that a yes to today, or…?” Steve asks, and Bucky groans. He hears the telltale sound of two ten year old girls giggling behind him, and he knows that Nadia at least can see right through him.

“Sorry, I’m a mess. Today is great, but I just…” Steve nods in understanding.

“You don’t know me. That’s fair, I wouldn’t send Sarah home with someone I just met either. How about the four of us go to the park or something, the girls can play, and we can, well…” Steve trails off, and Bucky is pretty sure he’s no longer the only one blushing, which is reassuring.

“Get to know each other?” Bucky suggests.

“Sounds good to me. It’s a  _ playdate _ .” Steve smirks and winks at Bucky, and Bucky realises he’s officially fucked. The girls giggle again, and the four of them head to the park.


	21. Day 21: Professional Rivals AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky make a bet on who will reach their sales target first

Bucky leans back in his chair, watching the seconds tick by on his computer screen. He takes a sip of his coffee; one minute left of freedom.

He checks his headset; thirty seconds left. The chair next to him pulls out, and Steve flops into it, clicking frantically in an attempt to set up his desktop before the start of their shift.

“You know, this is why I get here early.”

“They pay me from nine, I get here at nine. They want me all set up before the phone lines open, they can pay me to come in ten minutes earlier.” Bucky hums and changes his status to ‘available” just as the clock hits nine a.m. No calls come through right away, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

“It’s quiet,” he informs Steve, who has just managed to get the computer started and is untangling his headset.

“Good. Will we say ten for today?” Steve replies, finally getting himself set up, only a minute and a half late -- just inside the two minute window. 

“Ten? Not very optimistic there are you?” Bucky raises an eyebrow, and Steve opens his mouth to retort but Bucky holds up a finger to silence him and rattles off the standard company greeting. Steve rolls his eyes and mouths a response which would almost certainly get them reprimanded if it was said aloud. Bucky smirks, but it doesn’t seep into his voice as he talks to the customer.

He wraps up the call quickly -- it’s just a transfer to another department this time.

“Seriously, they  _ need _ to sort out these phone lines, the menu is impossible to navigate,” he comments, typing the call notes and going back into ‘available’.

“Fifteen?” Steve asks, bringing them back to the prior conversation. Bucky hums.

“Usual stakes?” he asks, and Steve nods. “You’re on, pal. I’m feeling lucky.”

They keep track of their sales for the rest of the day, neck-in-neck until right before their shift ends, when Bucky gets one of those dreaded calls which take almost half an hour to navigate and end in a wary “Can you send me that in an email? I need to think about it” from the customer. Bucky reluctantly obliges, and by the time he wraps up, Steve has managed to sell two more products.

“Guy called in to buy one for each of his kids. Jackpot, baby!” Bucky groans. This brings Steve up to the required fifteen sales.

“Alright, you win. Date night’s on me tonight, I guess.” Bucky concedes, and Steve smirks as he starts shutting down his station. 

“Can’t wait. My place?” Bucky nods and flips the bird to Steve as he saunters away, and gets a kiss blown to him in response.

Bucky takes a moment to stare after him, thinking about how much he loves that fucking asshole, before he finishes up his notes for his last call and follows Steve out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent two years working in a call center, and saw how much dating went on between the staff. It's honestly a wonder it took me until now to write this AU


	22. Day 22: Futuristic AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Quiet" is difficult to achieve when you live on a ship travelling through space

The base is never quiet, not really. The systems which maintain a habitable environment: air, water, gravity, heat -- they mean there’s always a low hum in the air. Steve is used to it; he’d never known any different, considering he had been born here. 

Bucky’s different. He remembers silence, open skies and the smell of grass. His family had been one of the last arrivals to the base, and Steve had been fascinated by stories of his home. Bucky had always been happy to talk about his time on Earth, but over the years Steve had come to notice a sadness in his eyes whenever he spoke of the silence of life on solid ground.

Steve wakes up from his fitful sleep to the familiar sound of his home and pulls himself out of bed, knocking twice on the wall that separates his bunk from Bucky’s to make sure he’s up. 

They meet in the corridor, moving in silence down to the open deck. It’s not open, so much as the only place in the vast base with any windows, but that’s enough for them. It’s still early, so there’s nobody else there, just them and the life support systems and the vast universe stretching out in front of their eyes. 

It isn’t silence, not the way Bucky remembers it. Earth is no longer visible to the naked eye; they have travelled so far in the past decade that they both know there’s no point in looking back.

Bucky stares out at the stars, and Steve leans into his warmth. They stand in the closest thing to silence they can manage until the sounds of the rest of the base waking up start to reach them. Bucky sniffs and wraps his arm around Steve. They go back to work.


	23. Day 23: Arranged MArriage AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky signs up for a service which uses an advanced algorithm to match you with your perfect spouse.

Bucky really wasn’t sure why he had signed up for this. It was a ridiculous concept, the idea that an algorithm could find the person you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with out of hundreds of thousands of possibilities. But Steve had been convincing in his arguments, and Bucky had never been able to say no to his best friend. 

They had signed up together, and Bucky had spent an entire week working on his profile. He wasn’t exactly sure why some of the details they had asked for were necessary, but he went along with it, then sent off the profile and waited. He wasn’t exactly sure why the service insisted on literal marriage at first sight, rather than letting their matches actually get to know each other first -- something about forcing the matches to give the relationship a fighting chance, not allowing them to back out too quickly. 

Matches were assigned on the first of each month, and Bucky got the email that he had been matched up first thing in the morning. Bucky was immediately filled with regret, and he would have backed out then, but he didn’t want whomever he had been matched with to be left at the altar alone -- his supposed “perfect match,” the closest thing to a soulmate that could actually exist.

He squared his shoulders and started the preparations. Steve had been matched too, and they drank to their last night of being single.

The wedding day came, and Bucky’s stomach was turning itself into knots as he approached the venue. He was greeted by his family, who had taken a lot of convincing before they had agreed to go along with this scheme. Becca smacked him on the arm when he got to her.

“You could’ve just told us you know, why bother with the whole  _ marrying a stranger  _ ruse? Weirdest prank ever.” Bucky frowned.

“What do you-?” And then the doors opened, and he was being ushered in only to see Steve standing at the altar. They both froze, and the world stood still, and then they burst into laughter.

Bucky felt the knot in his chest loosen, and everything slotted into place. He didn’t miss the whispered “ _ Thank God” _ from Steve when he closed the distance between them. 

“Did you know?” Bucky asked, and Steve shook his head. 

“Do you mind?” Steve shook his head again, and Bucky beamed.

“Then I guess we’re doing this.”


	24. Day 24: Private Detective AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve isn't in the intelligence game any more, which is why he's surprised to come across none other than the Winter Soldier on one of his jobs.

Steve wasn’t in the intelligence game anymore. His small stature had been an asset when he had done the high stakes stuff, making him blend in with crowds, helping him go incognito, and he had been good at the job, but there was always an agenda working for the kind of organisations he had worked for in the past.

He had retired, set up his PI business and he was happy to help out those who needed him. He generally dealt with cheating spouses, abusive ex-partners or family members, maybe an occasional background check. 

International assassins were no longer his forté, so he was surprised to see his investigation lead him to this fire escape in Brooklyn, where he could see none other than the Winter Soldier, standing in the kitchen of the dingy apartment across the street in fluffy bunny slippers and a pink apron, whipping cream in a large bowl to put on top of what looked like a freshly baked cake.

The Winter Soldier was a master assassin, a finely honed machine who was known to strike fear in the hearts of even the most skilled of intelligence agencies. He was a ghost story, a tale told to scare new recruits into taking care when they were on assignment. He was poking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth while carefully piping cream onto the cake, then swiping a finger through a blob which had fallen onto the countertop and licking it off with a soft smile.

He paused, the smile still on his face, then turned and leaned against the countertop. His hands moved in a fluid motion, and Steve recognised that he was using sign language.

_ “Who hired you?” _ Steve froze, and the soldier laughed. His eyes crinkled up with the expression, and he looked… soft. Steve wasn’t sure what possessed him to pack up his equipment and climb down the fire escape, crossing over to the building in question.

When he got there, the soldier was sitting on a window ledge, eating a slice of cake.

“I wasn’t looking for you. Your upstairs neighbour has been involved in some slightly shady stuff. I just happened to notice you.”

“You’re SHIELD, right?” The soldier asked, and gestured to a second slice of cake in the window, which Steve picked up warily.

“Not anymore. I got out of the game a few years back, around the same time as you.” The soldier hummed.

“I remember you. From then. You didn’t shoot me.”

“I could tell you weren’t there voluntarily. You seem to be doing well?” The soldier nodded, looking around the apartment.

“It’s not much, but I feel… human again. I have a  _ name _ again.” Steve smiled at that and took a bite of the cake. It was good.

“I’m Steve, by the way.”

“Bucky.” There was a sense of wonder in the way he said it, as though it was something new and delicate. They ate the rest of the cake together, and Bucky filled him in on everything he had noticed as odd about his upstairs neighbour.


	25. Day 25: Circus AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve is entranced by the aerial dancer who performs after him, but he hasn't been able to work up the nerve to approach him.

Steve lingered in the wings after his own routine, watching as the silks were lowered from the center of the ring and the dancer made his way to them.

The music started and Steve watched as the dancer took hold of the fabric, pulling himself up with graceful motions and beginning his routine. Steve's diabolo and juggling equipment were abandoned at his side as he watched, entranced as always by the way the dancer seemed to be at one with the silk, his body moving with perfect form, lithe and strong.

The deep red ropes of silk wrapped around his body as he climbed, and Steve wondered if it was weird to wish you were a piece of fabric. The routine carried on, and even though Steve had seen it dozens of times already, he still gasped when the dancer let go of the silk, twirling as he fell until the twists he had created unravelled and caught him just a few feet from the ground.

"You know, you could try talking to him? Asking him out? Instead of creepily watching him every night." Natasha had appeared behind him, and Steve jumped at the sudden whisper from the acrobat.

"Yeah, sure, that would go great. ' _ Hey, I’ve been watching you for months, let's date.' _ No, thank you." Natasha scoffed.

"Or, maybe; ' _ Hi Bucky, you’re very talented, want to get a coffee sometime?'  _ That might be a better approach." Steve shushed Natasha and filed away the dancer's name for future reference, as he watched  _ Bucky  _ wrap the silk around his feet and drop into a split in midair, before turning into an arabesque just as the last strains of music played out.

Bucky slid gracefully down the silks and bowed, and Steve hurried to gather up his things and make his way backstage. He felt a hand on his shoulder as he got to the door,and turned to see Bucky.

"I'm sorry, hi, I'm Bucky. I just -- I was watching your routine earlier, before I went on, and I just wanted to say you're incredibly talented." Steve's jaw dropped along with his diabolo, and his brain short-circuited.

"I'm Steve," he blurted, "You're beautiful."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also: I did a drawing to go with this ficlet!  
> 


	26. Day 26: Monster Hunter AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky take on a nest of creatures they haven't encountered before, and Bucky gets injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've added a drawing I did to yesterday's AU, in case anyone missed that, you can go back and have a look! :D

Steve plunged the silver dagger into the creature’s chest and breathed a sigh of relief when it fell to the floor, dead. It had been a close fight this time, at least five of whatever those creatures had been against just the two of them. This had been the last, and Steve staggered backwards,turning to look for Bucky.

“We should go, in case any more of them show up.” 

Bucky was sitting against the wall, head tipped back as though he were asleep.

“Buck, come on, we can rest later.” The only answer he got was a low groan, and his heart stopped. “Buck?”

Steve rushed over to Bucky, noticing too late the deep gash running down his left arm, blood pooling on the floor. Steve swore and pulled Bucky up,draping the good arm over his shoulder and picking him up as though he weighed nothing. Steve was exhausted, and he had thought that he was fit to collapse, but he had to get Bucky somewhere safe.

“I’m sorry, Stevie. There were too many of them, they caught me off guard.” Steve carried him out the door of the shack they had been in and towards their camp for the night. 

“Don’t apologise, Bucky, it’s gonna be alright. You’re gonna be alright.” He lay Bucky down and poked the fire, raking up a few embers and feeding them carefully.

He grabbed the first aid kit and set to tending Bucky’s wounds, praying to whatever god was listening that whatever the fuck those creatures were didn’t have some sort of venom in their claws. Bucky whimpered when Steve cut his sleeve away from the wound.

“Hurts, Stevie.”

“Shhh, it’s gonna be alright, I promise. I got you.” Steve clenched his jaw and did all he could, wrapping the gash in a thick layer of bandages. Bucky passed out about halfway through, and Steve covered him in a blanket and pressed a tender kiss to his flushed forehead, careful not to aggravate the injury.

They’d find a doctor in the morning, but for now, he’d hold vigil and keep watch.


	27. Day 27: Flower Shop AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is getting a little tired of the guy who shows up to buy flowers for a different woman every single day.

“He’s back again!” Becca calls out as she makes her way into the back room where Bucky was trimming the stems of a new intake. He sighs and stands up.

“What’s the name today?” He asks with a wry smile.

“Stella.” She rolls her eyes and takes over his work, and Bucky moves out to the shop to greet the customer. He comes in almost daily at this point, always asks to see Bucky, and always orders a bouquet of yellow roses. The only thing that changes is the name of the woman he’s buying them for. 

The first day, it had been Jane; and Bucky had been disappointed because the guy was exactly Bucky’s type, but he was clearly straight, and in a relationship with a woman. The second day was Marie, and Bucky had been both disappointed and angry on Jane’s behalf.

They were now onto the eleventh day, the eleventh woman, and Bucky was no longer disappointed -- just tired and faintly angry. But business was business, and a dozen roses a day was pretty good business at that.

“Hi Bucky! Same as usual, for Stella this time.” Bucky gave him a tight smile and started assembling the bouquet. He hated that Steve could still come across so cute and innocent while dating an entire soccer team’s worth of women. Bucky maintains his silence, while Steve natters on.

“Oh! I meant to say, I’m gonna be out of town for the next two days, could I place orders for delivery with you?” Bucky has his back to him, tying off the bouquet and adding the label, so he lets himself roll his eyes before turning back with a wide smile.  _ Thirteen. _

“Of course! Can I get the addresses and names?” 

“Great! One for Peggy and one for Julia, please.” Steve then reels off a single address, and Bucky writes it down, pausing halfway and furrowing his brow.

“Wait, I know this place, isn’t it--”

“They’re a great facility, took real good care of my mom while she was there, so I like to go and visit the ladies in the afternoon, bring them flowers to brighten their day a little.” Bucky closes his eyes, cursing himself.

It’s a nursing home. Steve isn’t dating thirteen women, he’s just a fucking  _ angel _ of a man who buys individual bouquets of roses for women in a residential care home. Bucky finishes taking the order, unable to fully meet Steve’s eyes until he is handing over the receipt. Steve looks surprised.

“Wait, what did you think I was doing with all these flowers?” Bucky flushes and shakes his head, too embarrassed to admit it. Steve bursts out laughing.

“Oh my god! The girls are gonna have a field day when I tell them this, they’ve been teasing me about my silly crush on the guy in the flower shop, and all this time--” Steve cuts himself off, turning pink, and Bucky feels a smile spread across his own face at his words.

“Sorry for making assumptions. Why don’t you let me take you out for coffee, to make up for it?” Steve nods, looking flustered, and backs out of the shop clutching the roses for Stella. Bucky counts to ten after the door closes, and Steve rushes back in.

“Let me give you my number!”


	28. Day 28: Fashion& Models AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve ponders his relationship with Bucky

It’s always the same, when they’re in a show together. They arrive early and almost immediately the air is charged. They bicker while they make their way to the dressing rooms, while they wait for their dressers to arrive and allow themselves to be draped in whatever ridiculous garment is being displayed on the runway that time.

They part ways for hair and makeup, and sit in silence while the team of artists transform their faces into something almost unrecognisable. Then they’re back in the same room, looking each other up and down with smirks and careful glances. They can’t do anything, not yet. Not while they are made up and dressed for the catwalk. They must be pristine, flawless, clean.

They walk, then go back to wardrobe for their next look. They touch a little then, because they can’t help it. Small teasing strokes and nudges, but there isn’t time; they can’t risk creasing the clothes or smudging their makeup -- they change and then it’s back out to the catwalk. The process repeats until the show wraps up, and then they don’t need to keep their makeup perfect anymore, don’t need to avoid wrinkles or ruffled hair, so they fall into a shower stall somewhere in the venue and then it’s all roving hands and exploring mouths until they are both satisfied. 

They emerge, sweaty and grinning, and then they part ways until the next time they’re scheduled together.

Steve wonders if Bucky ever thinks about him, in between. Does he lie awake wondering what Steve is doing? Does he follow Steve’s other shows and try to predict when the agency will put them together again? Is Steve the only one who wonders what might happen if they didn’t part ways immediately, just once? 

They could go for coffee maybe, or out to a club if the show runs late. They could dance and laugh and maybe even talk in the quiet alley out back. Or do other things in the quiet alley out back. 

They could stumble home together, laughter bubbling between them and fall together into Steve’s bed sheets. Wake up the next morning wrapped around each other and go for round two, maybe three before heading out for a late brunch.

Steve sighs, feeling the bruises on his hips which Bucky had left there. He hopes Bucky does think about him, hopes they can maybe have that someday. 

For now, though, he’ll take what he can get.


	29. Day 29: Tattoo Parlor AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve really likes his job as a tattoo artist. He likes helping people express themselves, and he loves the people he works with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, I took a few days off because I wasn't sure whether I wanted to post this or not. I wrote this before the news broke of Chadwick's death and I felt this might not be appropriate.  
> I'm putting a CW here for mentions of illness and an implied (canon) character death as a result of illness. Please take care of yourselves and skip this part if it's not something you feel you can read right now.  
> RIP Chadwick.

The bell above the door of Howling Commandos tattoo and piercing parlour rings, and Steve stands up to greet the customer from where he had been sketching behind the register. Jim usually mans the reception, but he’s out today for his mom’s retirement party so Steve was on his own out front. 

“Hey, how can I help you?” The newcomer is young, probably only around twenty. She looks nervous, and a little sad around the eyes.

“Hi, wanted to make an appointment for a tattoo?” Steve smiles at her encouragingly and comes around to the front, gesturing for her to sit down with him on the cushy sofa. 

“This your first one?” he asks, and she nods.

“Yeah, it’s um.. It’s for my sister. She’s only twelve, and she’s really sick. I wanted to get something for her. I thought maybe a quote from her favourite book?” The girl held out her phone, showing him a short quote from The Secret Garden.

_ “If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” _

“That sounds beautiful,” Steve assures her. 

“And maybe some wildflowers around it? Like daisies or violets?” Her tone is more certain now that she knows he is receptive to her ideas, so Steve nods encouragingly. 

“Where would you like it?” She points to a spot on her chest, over her heart, and Steve nods again, feeling a twinge of sadness.

“That can be a pretty sensitive area, especially if it’s close to the collarbone. Are you sure?” She tells him she is, and he stands to go check the bookings on the computer. 

“I can put you down for an appointment on the fifth, does that work?” They discuss the rest of the details, and he gives her a quote. She leaves after paying the deposit, a smile on her face even through the sadness.

Steve heads back and starts working up the design, only to find Bucky there with a soft smile on his face.

“You’re such a sap, Rogers. I know that’s not your usual price.” Steve shrugs. 

“Remember my first tattoo?” Bucky smiles and his hand comes up to rest over Steve’s sternum, where his Mom’s favourite quote from The Wizard of Oz is inked.

The gold from Bucky’s wedding ring glints in the light, and Steve covers it with his own hand, where a matching ring sits.

“Like I said. Sap.” Steve rolls his eyes and kisses Bucky softly on the lips.

“You love it,” he murmurs, and Bucky hums.

“Yeah, I do. I was just gonna ask if you wanted to break for lunch? I have a tragus piercing booked in just under an hour and I wanna eat first.” Steve nods and changes the sign on the door to closed before locking up and going to eat with his husband in the break room.


	30. Day 30: Magic AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An every day kind of magic follows Bucky in his relationship with Steve

There is magic in the world: this Bucky knows for certain. It’s not levitation and talking animals, but it’s there if you know where to look.

He sees it in the everyday things; when the rain stops just as he signs off work, when he forgets to set a timer for the cake he’s baking but manages to check on it at exactly the right time, when he gets on a crowded train with one free seat next to a beautiful stranger.

It’s there in the beam of light that shines in the window even on the subway to illuminate the golden hair of the man next to him, and the way the smile sends warmth into his chest at the end of a long day.

It’s there when he introduces himself to the man, in the spark of electricity that shoots through his body when they shake hands.

Two days later, Steve tells Bucky he feels the magic too, when he brings him to a coffee shop and somehow knows his order without having to ask. It’s in the way their laughs form a harmony neither of them want to stop listening to.

When Steve kisses him, Bucky recognises the magic there too -- in the way their heartbeats begin to echo each other and the birds start to sing just that little bit louder.

Over the years, Bucky feels the magic time and time again.

When he’s with Steve, his cakes taste sweeter and music sounds richer. 

When they lie wrapped up in each other, Bucky can hear the ocean even in the middle of the city, and he knows that’s the magic at work too.

It’s an everyday kind of magic, like when Steve orders comfort food right before Bucky reaches out to tell him he’s having a bad day, or when they finally emerge from the bedroom and put on some clothes right before Becca drops by for a surprise visit.

It weaves its way into their lives until it’s almost indistinguishable, so wrapped up are they in each other.

The magic reaches a crescendo the day they are walking through the park hand in hand, when Steve gets down on one knee and a band begins to play somewhere just out of sight. 


	31. Day 31: Combination - Firefighter x Model AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is a model, but it's not as glamorous as he expected it to be. A fire at one of his gigs might be the most interesting thing to happen to him in this job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra long piece for the last one, enjoy!

“Jesus fucking Christ, who is smoking backstage  _ again?”  _ Bucky rolled his eyes and pulled on a robe to investigate, only to stop short when he saw the amount of smoke issuing from downstairs and realised that the alarm was very much  _ not _ due to people smoking where they shouldn’t be, but rather an actual fucking fire in the studio. 

He dashed back the way he had come, trying to remember literally anything about fire safety procedures and coming up short. He knew he shouldn’t have taken this job -- the director was skeevy and the subject not exactly what he had dreamed of when he had started modelling. 

The agency had said it would help get his image out there, though, help him book the kind of modelling gig he could actually be proud of; the kind of thing that was printed in a magazine his parents could put on the coffee table and show their friends rather than making him wish they didn’t know how to google his name.

He wasn’t  _ ashamed _ of the work; he knew he was lucky to make a living as a model in the first place, but still, it wasn’t Vogue. It wasn’t even Buzzfeed.

He hadn’t been shown where the fire escape was, because this so-called studio was a fucking  _ death trap _ . He heard the siren just as smoke started to creep into the second floor, and he began frantically searching for a way out. The floor was warm under his bare feet, and he began to fear that he wouldn’t find the fire escape. 

There were sounds and shouts from downstairs, then heavy footsteps and the door was pushed open, revealing a large man in uniform and, behind him, a fire escape which Bucky must have missed.

Bucky rushed forward, and in his panic he wrapped his arms around the firefighter in a tight hug.

“You’re my fucking hero,” he shouted against the man’s chest, “I thought I was going to die up here and my last job would be advertising dick pills.” He let go and rushed out the fire escape, only realising once he was out in the cool air he was only wearing a robe and very small “modesty” underwear provided by the wardrobe department, and that was probably not the best way to introduce yourself to a total stranger.

He cringed for the next twenty minutes alongside the crew, shivering his balls off in the street until a firefighter came out and told them they had managed to put out the fire. Something electrical, apparently. Then out came Bucky’s firefighter, looking unfairly gorgeous now he actually took the time to look. Bucky wrapped the robe tighter around himself and smiled awkwardly. The man approached him with one of those foil blankets from the ambulance which had just arrived.

“Thought you might need this, figured you’d be, uh… Cold.” His eyes flickered down to the short robe and back up to Bucky’s face, and Bucky wondered if he was blushing under all that soot and grime on his face. He took the blanket and wrapped it around himself.

“I’m Bucky. Sorry for accosting you, earlier.” The firefighter laughed, and it was probably the best thing he ever heard.

“Trust me, it’s more than okay. I’m Steve.” He held out his hand, and Bucky reached out of the blanket to shake it.

“Rogers, we’re rolling out!” a voice called from the truck, and Steve turned in surprise. 

“Oh, right. Be right there, Barton!” Steve looked back to Bucky, seemingly in hesitation.

“I gotta go, you gonna be alright getting home? I’m afraid we can’t let anyone back inside today.” Bucky cringed. He was practically naked, and all of his belongings were in there.

“I doubt they’ll let me on the subway like this, but I guess I’ll figure something out. Borrow a phone, call my roommate or something. Steve hesitated, making a truly adorable face. 

“Look, why don’t you come to the station? We have plenty of spare clothes there you could borrow, and you can at least be warm while waiting for a ride?” Bucky felt like he should probably say no, but he found himself nodding and following Steve when he went back to the fire truck. The others didn’t say anything when they saw him, though the red haired woman raised an eyebrow at Steve which made him frown and tell her to shut up. 

Bucky sat quietly in the truck as they drove back to the firehouse, trying not to draw attention to himself, and his nudity, but he noticed Steve’s eyes kept drifting to him and darting away each time he saw Bucky looking back. 

Steve helped him down when they pulled in, and led him to a set of lockers, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt with the station number and the New York City Fire Department logo printed on it before directing him to a bathroom he could change in. When Bucky got back, Steve was there waiting for him, still in uniform; grimy and dirty, but he had removed his jacket so his truly massive arms and shoulders were on full display. 

“I gotta go clean up and debrief, but here’s my phone to call your roommate first.” Bucky took the phone and started typing in Sam’s number, only to see it saved already as  _ Sam - Gym. _

Bucky laughed and Steve looked at him questioningly.

“Oh my god, you’re Sam’s  _ Steve with the arms, _ aren’t you?” This time Bucky could tell Steve was blushing when his eyes widened.

“Shit, you’re the roommate who’s a model? Oh my god.”

“He said you were hitting on him,” Bucky teased and Steve groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“Yup, he let me go on for at least ten minutes before telling me he already had a boyfriend.” Bucky snorted.

“He does like messing with people,” Bucky laughed, and Steve looked to be considering something.

“He also offered to set me up with his roommate, the model,” Steve said, and Bucky gasped.

“Are you saying you’ve rejected me already? That’s not good for a guy’s ego, I have to say.” Steve looked back at Bucky, an apologetic smile on his face.

“Beginning to regret that now. Honestly, I thought he was screwing with me again -- he showed me a picture and I thought  _ no way _ is this guy real.” Bucky bit his lip to hide the smile that was growing there as he blushed. 

“If I asked you out myself, would you say yes this time?” Steve let out a huff of laughter and nodded shyly. Bucky grinned. “Good. Go get clean. I’ll call Sam to pick me up, then maybe I’ll get your number from him, give you a call when I have my phone back?” Steve nodded again, and Bucky wanted to kiss the soft smile which spread across his face, even with the gross dirt covering his face.

“I’d like that, yeah.” Maybe the dirt wouldn’t be so bad, Bucky thought, leaning in slightly.

“Rogers! Stop flirting and get your ass in gear!” Steve jumped and looked around to where a large man in an eyepatch was standing, glaring at them. Steve smiled apologetically and stood up. Bucky watched him go with a smirk on his face, then called Sam’s contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all, folks! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who followed along, kudosed, liked my tweets, left comments or even ducked in to read one of these little ideas. I've had SUCH a blast and this challenge was like a little beam of light during some very stressful moments this last month.   
> I love you all <3 <3


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